Music to the rescue

May 7, 2013

Amanda Kacperowski (left), 17, and Sara Brilliant, 15, both of Toms River, have organized a Pier Pressure Hurricane Relief Concert to benefit first responders, set for May 19 at Hemingway's Cafe in Seaside Heights. / Debbie Mura/Special to Comnmunity Reporter

Written by

Debbie Mura

For the Community Reporter

Sara Brilliant of Toms River poses with Before You Exit band vocalist Riley McDonough and drummer Thomas Silvers in front of the Star Jet roller coaster that fell off the Seaside Heights pier into the sea during superstorm Sandy. The band is one of several that will perform in a May 19 concert to benefit the storm's first responders. / Photo courtesy of Philip Brilliant

Both Brilliant and her friend, Amanda Kacperowski, 17, of Toms River, say they were very shy prior to the storm. But they no longer afford themselves that luxury.

Today, the two teens are granting media interviews and constantly reaching out to strangers to promote their second Sandy relief concert, slated to be held Sunday, May 19 at Hemingway’s Café in Seaside Heights.

While they have now spent countless hours with one another planning and promoting the concert events, prior to the storm, the two hadn’t even met. Both teens are fans of the Orlando, Florida-based band, Before You Exit, and had spoken to one another on Tumblr, but that was their only connection.

When the storm hit, both girls were fortunate enough not to be facing major damage from the storm at home but were deeply affected by the destruction in their community and the impact on friends and neighbors.

During the first few days after the storm, the girls chatted online and shared not only their concerns but their desire to do something.

“We wanted to make a huge impact on something,” said Kacperowski, a junior at Monsignor Donovan High School in Toms River.

The teens began texting one another about possibly putting a concert together, even though neither had ever done that before and they weren’t sure what such a project would entail.

Within a week after the storm, the girls met for the first time at Kacperowski’s house and began seriously planning a concert. Their parents agreed to support the project if they could get the bands.

In short order, by emailing band managers, the Toms River teens had signed up six popular groups.

“Getting the bands wasn’t hard. They were actually very excited; they all wanted to help,” Kacperowski said.

Under the banner Pier Pressure Hurricane Relief Concert, they planned the event for Dec. 1 but didn’t know where the concert would take place.

“The hardest part was getting a venue,” said Brilliant, who is a freshman at Toms River High School North.

“Every day at school, we would pass out fliers,” Brilliant said, noting that the two “shy” girls now had to talk to everyone in person or via Facebook and Twitter.

Their efforts paid off and more than 300 people attended the concert, raising $15,000, which Pier Pressure NJ donated to the New Jersey Amusement Association’s First-Responder Relief Fund, as well as a relief fund set up by Toms River Regional Schools.

Before Your Exit is headlining the second concert with the support of Deleasa, Love in Motion, Reverse Order and Fountain Boulevard.